S Justice Department is investigating the potential funneling of money into the White House in exchange for a presidential pardon, according to documents unsealed in federal court.

U.

S District Judge Barrel Howell on Tuesday released a heavily redacted order that described what she called a bribery for pardon investigation.

Federal prosecutors in Washington said they had obtained evidence of the scheme in which someone would offer a substantial political contribution in exchange for a presidential pardon.

About half of the 18 page document was blacked out, with the publicly available version providing few details of the alleged scheme and naming none of the people potentially involved.

In August, Howell granted a Justice Department request to view emails between a lawyer and clients, saying attorney client privilege did not apply but did not identify who was involved.

Government investigators said they had seized over 50 digital media devices, iPhones, IPADS, laptops and memory drives.

A Justice Department spokeswoman did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but a department official said Tuesday that no U.

S government official is the subject or target of the investigation.

The U.

S Constitution grants presidents leeway to pardon people convicted of federal crimes.

Last week, President Donald Trump pardoned his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

That was the first of what is expected to be a string of pardons in Trump's final weeks in the White House.